Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Merciless Medic]

Sara & Eva​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Mount Yeleon, Russia
Collab with Mook-LandStrider
Interactions: Nadia, Dani, Adrian, Irina, Lynxes
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen

Sara chuckled at Eva’s adoration of the baby lynx, but her own instincts were just wanting to eat them. She wondered how good they tasted over the fire… The thought of a monstercat scaring them away had Sara looking at Eva with a strange look. “They… Don’t smell like a Monstercat. There was one in Fate until he left. I don’t think these are the same ones. And uh… We don’t have to be superstitious to be scared of something in the woods.” Sara chuckled sheepishly. She had seen quite a few monsters during her time hunting, and heard of even scarier ones from her father. It was interesting to note that the trees weren’t actually swaying. So at least that was an illusion. Nadia’s attempt at being aggressive and intimidating only had Sara deadpanning towards her. There was no need. Why be the spark when you’re worried about a fire starting? She didn’t think that was a good idea, but she bit her tongue and stayed silent.

Then, the information came from the mother lynx who came forth, and Nadia’s explanation of what could lie ahead.

A Leshy? The thought made Eva shiver slightly. The fact that it could push and maneuver trees through areas was a little amazing. Actually, it wasn’t a little amazing, it was pretty darn cool. Eva seemed glued to the conversation before looking over to Sara. “I wonder if there will be more dancing trees.” Eva asked before putting her arms up and mimicking the swaying nature of the trees they had run into earlier.

“I wonder if the trees in the weeping place are going to be spooky. Like, maybe they are going to be covered with spider webs and super stereotypical. Or… ooooh what if we get just weird super overgrown trees. Corrupted and all weird looking like some lovecraftian monster was around.” Eva mused. “Oh! Another one! What if they have spider roots that they walk around on and they slurp up unsuspecting creatures for sustenance.” Eva continued on, her mind getting farther away from the topic at hand and onto video games.

Sara snorted at Eva’s mimicking of the dancing trees. “There will likely be more.” She listened to Eva’s offhanded speculations on what there could be more of, which had her chuckling. “We’ll just have to wait and see then. Let’s not get too into our heads. I would, but… I’m more interested in hunting whatever this Leshy is. At least it will keep me from hunting the more neutral or benevolent animals here.”

As Sara neared the group with Eva, she heard what Dani and Adrian also said. To hear that this Leshy thing can just control the woods by infesting them with a power that the mother lynx equated to a disease had Sara wondering what creature this even was. Had it something to do with fae? Apparently, not even witches can even do what this thing is doing to the trees.

So, the weeping woods were their destination, and they had to escort Irina there. Or, well, more like guide her there. She looked up at Nadia, an eyebrow raising. “What if it’s connected with the fae in some way? Sounds like this Leshy doesn’t like to be alone, but if it only captures children, I’m not sure if it’ll help the fae in any way. Still, food for thought, I guess.” She shivered at the thought of being taken underwater by this thing, if Nadia's warning of being near water had implied he could just drown things. She looked back at Eva warily. “Yeah, no getting near ponds. Maybe we can try using your wisps on the ponds we see to see if anything changes.”

Adrian’s comment of sensing pain had her ears pinning back. That couldn’t be good at all. Dani’s comment about being mugged by a fern had her back in good spirits with a soft snort. “I don’t think a fern would find anything useful if it did mug you.” But she did nod at Dani’s question before looking up at Eva to see if that was correct.

“I think I am going to be useful this time.” Eva mumbled, coming back from her airy thoughts. “Okay, no ponds then. That's all you, I'm going to be chilling.” Eva said with a smirk. Eva looked at Dani and nodded. “Illusions entirely. They aren’t there. There are trees, just the dancing ones aren’t there.” Eva commented.

When Dani asked why stay away from the water, Sara shivered. “Uhm… You might not want to drown. I’ve heard similar stories of creatures back in the US where they hide around or in ponds and drown people. Luckily, I’ve never seen them for myself.” Her tail shivered before she looked into the trees. “I’m thinking Eva and I should be in front. That way, we can light the way if it gets too dark, I can smell if anything’s leshy-er… Fishy, and we can dispel any illusions we may come across. We just gotta stay close. I’d rather not be alone here.” Her instincts were yelling at her to leave, that it wasn’t her home or place to be snooping around in, but they had no choice. This “leshy” needed to know these mortals were nothing to fuck with.

Eva looked to Sara. “I can keep my lights out, encircle us with them and let them more or less act like an illusion focused detector. I can also really light the area up if need be.” Eva noted.

Sara beamed and looked at the others. “Just stay as close as possible~. Don’t want any of us to get taken suddenly like some horror game.” She chuckled, taking Eva’s weapon form in her hand before making herself the front of the group.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Valaam Island, Russia
​

Looking at the trio and hearing their responses, or questions she snorts dismissively. First addressing Dani and Sara, on the issue of being near the water, shaking her head side to side.

"Nyet. You misunderstand. The Leshy himself could do this, Da, but waste of talent. Or skills if you prefer, given his reach with the trees around us, he can have roots from within it to grab you by the ankle and drag you into the water. I cannot say if specialty of this one, but his kind have been known to just take the true form, of a giant old man with parts made akin to a tree, and he swats you with a tree like an ogre while the roots of other trees hold you in place. Fortunately such things should not kill most of us, but better still will be to cut the roots as soon as they move. It will be hard to tell what trees he may command."

Then there was Eva's bit to which she grunted. "No. The Trees would be nothing like that, if they do we have a bigger problem. A Leshy tends to not alter the forest and all these dancing trees are the work of her and her kits. From here on, unless we see Fae folk or her children, any dancing tree you can safely assume is actually dancing, least something else is at work. Leshy's are, or how they see it, guardians of the forest in a local area, in fact if we could get to deep water, he would be powerless against us. The problem then is avoiding any sort of cypress on the way out. The forest should look just as we seen it on the flight in, though some alterations can happen.

And like I said, Lesnoi are as temperamental as humans, it could be as you fear Sara, or it could be that someone pissed on him, or he suddenly decided, fuck the tourists... Though he should have a relationship or understanding with the Locals to some extent. We should bare in mind that he may rather than tree ogre smashing us, provided he wants to fight, that subterfuge could come into play. If one thing is common it is the honor code many of them seem to hold, but if he is mad, I would not count on that."

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Irina​

"The Research Witch"​

Species Witch
Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

"Even before our lord made it his home, the weeping woods were not a place visited often... birds do not fly over it nor nest in the trees... most of my prey would rather die by my claws than enter it. I cannot say that I know why they are this way, but I have neared them, and it felt as if suddenly I was the vole," the Lynx responded, describing the woods as best she could. In truth, she knew little about them as she was amongst the many forest creatures that refused to visit them due to the terrifying presence there. "Much of what I know are the stories spread from our elders, from mother to cub. All I do know is I shall take you there and no further," the lynx told them, "if you can make it, that is."

"The lesnoi are rare. Most have made pacts with the DWMA, but even with the stubborn few that reject the modern world, I would wager there are less then a ten left," Irina informed the group. Meanwhile, the lynx was leaping into the trees, electing to take the high ground to guide the group through the forest. "A Lesnik is possible. The descriptions and motives here don't all match the Lesnoi I have researched. As Nadia said, they are typically the guardians of forests. It is not in their nature to want to expand their territory or change the natural balance. It is the source of their power and longevity. A newborn Lesnik that has not planted its roots could be slain by a band of men. It is not until it has grown into the land that its true power manifests, and even then, that power can be weakened if the land is ravaged," Irina explained, giving some of her counterpoints. Not that she was in disbelief, but more so that it was in her nature to share information as a research Witch.

"If something is empowering this creature, it could be various things. Vila, Vilenjak, Vodenjak, or even Zmaj, though all of those are thought to be extinct. If the churches play a role here, it could be any number of demons. If the woods are plagued, it could be a Milosnitse. Limiting ourselves to believing it is of slavic nature merely because we are in Russia is a mistake, too; creatures and demons have spread just as much as man," Irina told them all, spouting off names that likely only Nadia had any idea what meant or even knew what were given many of them were from Russian folklore. She also brought up another valid point in that the churches and woods could play a factor, or that this might not be tied to slavic folklore at all. Her mind was more open to the possibilities.

That, and should be a Leshy, walking into its lair would be more dangerous than she cared to admit even if she still intended to do so.

"I do not know the words you say or the names you use," the Lynx said from atop its perch, "but, if you want me to guide you, we need to leave soon. The more ground we tread before he realizes, the better. I will not be risking my life or the lives of my children for your sake." The lynx was demanding in that regard as it began leaping from tree to tree, heading out in a direction Northeast of their current one, and not turning to see if they were to follow.

Irina too this as the cue to go, and with her the party would follow.

Valaam was admittedly a small island. What the lynx described as a long journey wouldn't have even actually been a mile. Not that it was an easy trek as the terrain was rugged, undergrowth was thick, and trees were dense. As strong as the agents were, terrain would still slow them down. The illusions saw previously would continue throughout their trek as well. It seemed to be a passive effect that did no harm, but annoyingly was present everywhere. Furthermore, the illusions became more complex as they went further and further north. False paths to dangerous drops, hills being exaggerated in size, marshy areas created where there was only undergrowth and undergrowth present where there were truly marshes. Eva could dispel all of this at the cost of her own reserves, but the lynx was also kind enough to guide them through and around these illusions. As she described, the illusions were tailored by the lord of the realm and ever-present, but did not change. They were pitfalls meant to alert him if someone did disturb them as well as deterrence from reaching his home.

The further North the group went, the more obvious and soon more intense a foreboding presence made itself. It was spiritual in nature rather than magical as Nadia, Adrian, and Sara were all apt to pick up on it. It was a difficult phenomenon to describe as it began to feel, if anything, similar to the massive presence that was Lord Kidd's soul that enveloped the DWMA, though on a much smaller scale. It was as if the land itself had a soul, and a fairly powerful one at that. A soul writhing in pain, as Adrian had described. Agony. Torment. More than that, guilt and anguish. These feelings were all present in the air, even to the weapons that hadn't yet trained their perception. Adrian might have shown Dani the basic elements of perception, but she and Eva could feel the turmoil of the area all the same. If this was what the lynx described earlier, it made sense that the forest creatures avoided it. Yet, the lynx did not stop just at the emergence of this feeling, and when pressed, informed them that this was normal for this area. The worst was yet to come.

They were close, according to the lynx. They had journeyed roughly a half-mile through the forest and by this time, the spiritual presence in the air had reached an equilibrium. It grew no stronger or weaker, but was annoyingly present at every turn and corner. This would be especially frustrating as they may traveled only a half mile as the bird flew, but in truth, their hike was closer to a full mile or more as they often took detours to avoid illusions or crossing into boundaries that would alert this Lord. Their efforts proved fruitful as it avoided the conflict that was about to occur.

Creaking branches and thunderous booms filled the air as the thick, gnarled trees began writing. These were not illusions. Eva could not dispel them. Roots, limbs, and even vines began to merge together between the broken trees. Dozens upon dozens of them coming together to form several large, wooden treants. Powerful treants, too, as each was comprised of the various parts of other trees to make themselves whole, large, and dense. Each treant significantly larger than the Magitech golems the agents were used to, but still nowhere near as large as the mud golem fought at the Fool's Festival. The forest itself did truly come to life.

Not only did these treants form, but the remaining trees lashed out at the group with their vines and limbs.

Their attacks were intelligent and coordinated. The treants first made their surprisingly mad dash at Sara and Nadia while others that formed at the edges attempting to splinter the group by rushing in between them. Vines lashed out at Eva and Dani, attempting to restrain them and furthermore suppress their ability to transform if contact was made. While the forest itself had a spiritual aura to it, these treants and trees were compelled by magical forces. Furthermore, the thick spiritual atmosphere limited the field of vision for Soul Perception, as if a haze was present everywhere. Irina who could not sense it at all could see the magic flowing through the trees. But, to those that tried to use their Soul Perception, their vision would become more clouded than it would without it, making it a double-edged sword of not outright detriment to use.

Roots shot up from the ground, attempting to hold Adrian and Irina in place. This three pronged attack had vines attempting to hold the weapons in place, roots for the two wild cards, and treants to distract the Meisters. Only Irina with her keen magical perception avoided this initial attack, flinging her arms into the air and causing the sleeve of her long, black over shirt to stretch out and reach for one of the now-moving tree limbs. She flung herself mid air while a small shockwave emit from her feet, breaking the hold of the roots that caught her. She was also quick to evaluate the situation. She was free, but she was hardly a heavy hitter.

Irina prioritized the weapons, believing them to be the most important party members to provide support. With a wave of her hand, she ripped the very water outside of the tree she stood on from its body alongside that of several others nearby, causing it to immediately turn into an immobile husk. That water, she then flung at in the direction of Dani, Eva, and Adrian in the shape of crescent blades that she solidified into ice to carve through the vines, releasing them from the suppressive effects of the vines. Adrian, while rooted, still suffered from this suppression and required the same assistance in being freed. Once done, he erupted every spike he could from his body in the off-chance that he was to be suppressed again.

"My magic is weak with these trees," Irina shouted at the group from above, "you will need to cut them down!"

It was true. The same suppressive force that prevented the weapons from transforming was also heavily weakening the magic of Irina. It seemed that the Lord of this forest prepared for magic users and weapons with its trees, and its natural environment made it difficult for Meisters to see. Soon enough, they would learn that same oppressive spiritual field also made it more difficult to control their wavelengths. It was a well-rounded, albeit imperfect defense. Magical and spiritual protections. Adrian might have had it worst, as he was effected by it on both ends. Regardless, once it was known to the group, it wouldn't prove entirely oppressive, more so an annoying hindrance that had to be worked around.

Adrian at the least was quick to think. Much like Irina, he saw Eva and Dani as the squishiest targets. They could transform, but each really needed to get through the two treants present that blocked them from respective Meisters, whom themselves were dealing with treants lunging at them. More importantly, dealing with two huge treants bare-handed for the moment. Sara had her claws and Nadia had her knives, but neither would have left a scratch on the iron-like bark of these treants. They would need their weapons.

"Transform into my hands," Adrian barked at them, "if I get shocked from the rejection, fuck it. I'll get you to Nadia and Sara." He didn't really much thought to options. He didn't think the three could fight the treants alone, or that he could protect them both for any adequate amount of time. He feared throwing them risked them getting intercepted by the lashing vines. In his mind, playing delivery boy and dodging these treants was the best option, lest Nadia and Sara could make it to them. Regardless, they both would be safer in their weapon forms than as is, and even if he had to feel that sting of rejection from holding them, it seemed a better option than letting them sit out in the open.

Of course, he was no team leader. If Nadia had a better plan, he would accept that, too. He just wasn't one for sitting around with his thumb up his ass.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast forest near the Weeping Woods
Mission The Waking Forest
Status Focused, hurting

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider

Eva had initially been taken entirely by surprise, not expecting the situation to evolve the way it had. Where she had once been grabbed by the trees she was now free and trying to take count of the situation at hand. She heard Adrian’s voice and quickly turned towards him. She was apprehensive, she was a difficult weapon to wield and even Sara experienced the weirdness of her soul. “Okay.” Eva called out and shifted, her flail forming in the hands of Adrian.

“I knew the fucking trees were going to mug us,” Dani growled, thinking that she should’ve perhaps just used Nadia as a taxi while staying in weapon form. She struggled against the vines until she was cut free, spending less time contemplating Adrian’s plan as she took a quick glance between him and Nadia. There was a hint of hesitation, but the sooner she was in Nadia’s hands, the sooner they would be able to take control of the situation. She transformed into her weapon form with a quick affirmation. “...Alright.”

Adrian was a weapon. He did not wield weapons. Not only was the feeling of Eva and Dani in his hands entirely foreign to him from a spiritual perspective, he had no idea how to actually use either of them let alone in tandem. Sure, hitting something with a mace wasn’t rocket science and he had dueled Nadia with wooden swords, but despite that, the idea of actually holding two other weapons felt fundamentally wrong to him.

A millisecond later, that feeling was only reaffirmed when he felt the stinging pain of nigh-immediate rejection. It wasn’t severe, or as severe as he had heard it could be. It was also vastly different between Dani and Eva. The feeling itself was almost negligible with Dani. In fact, it might not even be present at all had they both not been weapons. Given how close they were, such made sense. But, Eva? He could feel that hand of his lit ablaze with sparks. It started as pins and needles in his fingertips, but every second he held on longer, it ascended up his arm and only intensified.

For Dani, this might have been a mild discomfort at most. Given her history with Meisters, the fact Adrian could hold her at all without a backfire so catastrophic it forced him to drop her immediately was a surprising sign of success. For Eva, this was all-too familiar situation. Even those rare Meisters that could hold her for long often fell prey to her distorted Soul. That was the situation here. Not only was their nature as weapons colliding, that portion of her soul that felled so many partnerships was manifesting here as the electric pain Adrian felt and shared with her to a lesser degree.

Adrian only grimaced slightly before launching off. He figured he didn’t have long before the rejection would take its course and holding either of them would leave him in a vulnerable state. His wavelength shot through him, doubling down as Self-Resonance as he tried to focus through the now-scorching pain, and only exacerbating the rejection that much faster. At the very least, Dani and Eva would be privy to what it felt like for an Autonomous Weapon to Self-Resonate. There was no better example or explanation than to see it firsthand while literally in the hand of the weapon doing so.

The massive treants tried to intercept. They were agile, but with Self-Resonance and raw determination, even their swipes through the air at blurring speeds couldn’t keep up with Adrian. Their dirty tricks, on the other hand, did prevent him from having a perfect straight shot to their partners. While he weaved around their initial attacks, they opted to grow out limbs and vines from each one of their torsos, connecting together into a net between them and on their sides acting as an immediate wall between them.

Now, had Adrian been skilled with either of these other weapons, cleaving through or even bashing through this net might have been possible, but as it stood, his right arm was screaming at him to let go of Eva as electricity crackled through it from their Rejection and his skin itself reddened from the damage. While Dani was more tolerable in his hand, he doubted he could muster an attack from her any more dangerous than his own spikes.

Instead, he elected to change his approach. If he couldn’t make it through the treants, he would find an opening. Their next set of swipes included a downward smash onto him, and through the left one, he made a mad dash straight forward, taking a baseball slide across the ground and taking a portion of the smash head on, doing so by catching the fist of the treant with spikes shot out from his chest that he subsequently reverted back, essentially making them a short term barrier between himself in the treant. Cheeky, but effective as he rolled forward and darted under the legs of the treant itself, though not without the need for more of his spikes to keep its legs separated. His spikes launched out from his shoulders and continued on in sequence like gears in a clock, propelling him forward while keeping the treant at bay.

As a flashback to what he told Dani, the way a Weapon must fight is through creativity. They lacked the raw power of their weapon-partner counterparts.

On the other side, he now had to make a priority. That priority was Sara. Not that he disliked Nadia or wanted to hold onto Dani longer for his own personal reasons, but that Eva hurt like Hell. His entire arm felt numb at this point, and much longer would have left his hand blistered from the rejection that was continuing on.

It was only a few feet to either of them, but Adrian made his way first to the werewolf. His Self-Resonance failed at this point as the dual-sided rejection from both weapons in his hand was just too much to keep up, but his normal amplified speed alone was sufficient without any particular barriers like the other treants.

"Sara!” he shouted, hopefully demanding her attention. She was dancing with a treant herself, though her natural agility gave her an easier time than he had doing so. Once her attention was on him, he tried his best to throw Eva at her, an underhand toss in her general direction using the lantern-end of her mace as a center of weight.

Then to Nadia. Again, only a few feet away, but in a slightly worse situation than Sara. Which made sense, he had dueled Sara before. How she moved was fluid and quick. Her animalistic reactions were more suitable to this type of backfoot fighting. In her case, he darted directly up to the Meister, again shouting her name, "Nadia!” and bringing Dani over. Though, unlike their sparring match, he did not throw the sword. Even he had common sense enough to not throw the sharp object.

Handing Nadia off her weapon between swings of the treant, Adrian could now feel the heat in both of his hands. One significantly worse than the other. He wasn’t sure if he could even transform it as it stood, but one good arm was better than none. "Just for reference, not the way intended to hold Dani,” Adrian spouted, though his flustered face did little to hide the pain he had through his sarcastic remark.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Valaam Island, Russia
​

As the Witch made her own opinions known, Nadia grunted in response, seemingly having little to dispute in what she said, well minus one bit. "This lands are old, my thought on it being what it is, is because of that. Though we shall see." As events unfolded, it seemed that the cats were in fact not behind all the illusions which was troubling. Then there was the presence that she felt and sensed as she lingered with her sould perception. The forest, or whatever it was, it was hurt, angry. This was not good. If it were what she theorized, then their problems had only begun.

"Dani-" Then the forest came alive to kick her ass. Quickly dropping out of soul perception for the pain and manipulation of her vision, Nadia remembered her training, her past and her former status as a two star. She did not panic, she did not scream, in place she simply rolled backwards, falling on her ass and then rolling to her right as the Minions swung out at where she would be. All around little vines, roots and branches attempted to grab her, to bash her, with Dani not at hand, she defaulted to her knife and laughed at the attempt to kill her, and the one that even now played with her wavelength.

"Good thing I have been doing this wrong for years!" Recalling the lessons of Starwulf, she grabbed her left knife and slashed at the attackers, amplifying her wavelength and forcing pure power through it, while her sensei would disapprove, she was sure he would understand her moment of laxity with regards to her training. Grabbing hold of one of the Treants fists, as it came in, Nadia with a mix of power, speed and the tree monster's own momentum and weight, she flipped the creature over her like a Judo match, causing a crashing roar behind her.

At least Adrian was quick to act, using this pause in time to bring Dani to her. "Heh. You just don't have a Ladies touch. Jealous?" She said with a cocky smile as she started to more properly regulate her Wavelength, now that she was with her partner. "For now, I think you should use me as a taxi for now, da?" Then her gaze turned to Adrian, or more specifically to him and then his arm.

"Keep with Irina, defend her, watch our backs, we'll handle the rest till that arm is better." Looking to Sara she pondered what orders to give. For now, there was too little information, though a few things were clear.

"Whatever we are fighting knows who and what we all are, and it is no fool. Do not use Soul Perception for now, our plan is simple. Destroy the forest till it stops attacking, but do not advance for now, Irina and Adrian can stay at the center, I will take the Right, Sara the Left. With all the illusions, just running forward may not very well help us." No sooner than she had finished, the Treant had self-righted, looking at her from where its eyes would be.

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Deda Commune, Romania
Interactions: Gauss, Ileana
Mentions: Annika, Arkayis, Elly, Midori, Priest, Thralls
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Peckinou

There was the wreck, and then there was the command to transform.

Well, it wasn’t too bad of a wreck, but the pileup because they had to stop so suddenly and a motorcycle clipping them had caused the rather anxious, young man’s mind to buzz unceasingly. This was only just after noon.

This was going to be a very long day…

It was odd seeing this lady from the motorbike speak English pretty well, and she seemed largely okay. She shouldn’t have gotten up so quickly. Either she had armor under those clothes, or she was either not human or a meister. Or both. This shit isn’t GTA anyway.

The cops came in record time, too, but those who came in looking like cops were rather odd. He couldn’t really hear what Elly, Annika, Arkayis, and Midori were getting themselves into with the group of strange people by the car, as Gauss had moved too far away and Noah couldn’t really find any want to care.

He just wanted to get themselves out of the commune. It was starting to make him feel really anxious, and it was only magnified with Ileana’s strange reaction to the “cops”. He also noticed fairly quickly the wand at her side. Either she was a mage or a meister, and she put her hand on it and would sometimes pause for brief moments, which had him wonder if that was just a demon weapon.

He couldn’t really see her as anything fishy as the cops that came blew themselves out of the water with how odd they were being. While they couldn’t fully trust Ileana, she was far more trustworthy in this moment than the cops. If she came from outside Romania and was acting strange and even a little apprehensive or terrified of these cops, there must be something about these cops that he couldn’t see.

It unsettled him.

While he was hoping Arkayis was okay and hoping he and Gauss could find some kind of common ground so the three of them can work together for the remainder of this mission, he knew it would need time, and they honestly can’t think about that for right now. The thought came, and then went just as quickly. Gauss’s “fun” talking to Ileana also slightly amused Noah, as it gave him some kind of “something” to distract himself from the current goings-on but that didn’t exactly last too long. Hearing Gauss’s new plan on just getting out of here with Ileana, Noah’s staff form softly crackled.

‘I feel like we’re brushin’ close to somethin’ we really shouldn’t. Who even is that guy? Are they even cops?’ He spoke within their shared soul space.

Despite being scolded at earlier, he didn’t hold any negative feelings towards Gauss, and the negative feelings he had towards himself had been replaced with determination to do better and not get himself killed. In fact, in spite of Arkayis’s increasing dislike for Gauss, Noah found himself trusting in Gauss more. His fine dining and possibly hunting her later sounded like a joke despite knowing how serious Gauss’s intentions were for both for more business and mission-related reasons, but it still held some kind of amusement that had his soul buzzing just slightly.

‘I get the feelin’ she’s been runnin’ from these guys for a while now, ‘n’ likely knows a lot more about ‘em. Looks like we’ll have ta keep her safe at all costs, even if she isn’t who she claims ta be. Ya believe she’s an investigator?’ He asked, clearly unsure of any other intentions she may have besides run from these cop-looking people.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Mount Yeleon, Russia
Interactions: Eva, Nadia, Dani, Adrian, Irina, Lynxes, Treants
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

Hearing from Nadia what the Leshy could do and then from Irina about what else it could possibly be had Sara humming in perturbed thought. This was just getting worse and worse.

All of a sudden, she didn’t feel like hunting anymore, but she trudged on anyway. They walked through and around the dizzying trail the lynx took them around, avoiding traps while probably also getting them revealed as illusions. Traps to alert the Leshy sounded great for him, but bad for them. The air around them became more and more suffocating, and Sara had to turn off her olfactory soul perception a few times to regather her bearings as it smelled so off. She didn’t even know what she was smelling, but it didn’t smell right.

Large tree creatures then came to life, dashing towards the meisters and taking their weapons away. Eva was just taking a nice stroll to stretch, too…

Sara grunted as she jumped away and tried to climb up a tree to get a look at what was going on. Turning on her olfactory perception caused her to only smell anger and guilt. It was like being near someone who was going through the throes of grief.

She had to turn it off, she couldn’t sense anything with that.

Irina said the trees made her magic weak, and the wavelength control Sara tried using to create a Soul Force attack was much harder to control. “It’s affecting our wavelengths, too! They’re separating us to make it easier. We have to get our weapons!” She avoided any attempts to hit her, zipping through the trees and branches like a monkey due to her parkour athleticism and the times she’s spent hunting with her family and using the trees as a way to catch up with the faster werewolves.

That’s when she heard Adrian yell. Amidst the cacophony of tree bark creaking, snapping, and the like, she was able to hear Adrian yell to their weapons. They were going to be flung to them.

That momentary distraction had the treant that was lunging at her to make its mark, slamming her with a vine that sent her into another tree. Coughing, she got up and began bouncing along the tree branches, dodging what she could, using the trees as cover as she dashed behind them, then rolled to the floor as she saw Adrian dual wielding their weapons and trying to get to them.

Finally, Adrian made it to them, and Sara reached up to catch Eva in her hands as she was flung to them. Sighing at the familiarity despite the weirdness Eva had, Sara swung the mace with a smile. “There we go, right back where you belong~.” She cooed, trying to be joking and lighthearted despite their circumstances. “You alright in there?” She asked Eva, hoping she was alright.

Hearing instructions, Sara pulled out her knife the DWMA issued her. Thankfully, she had something she could cut, even if it wasn’t much. Having Eva in her hand, they could try Soul Conduction once Eva was able to shrug off the rejection caused by Adrian.

“Once you get over that rejection, let me know, then we can start using Soul Conduction. I can keep running circles around these guys ad nauseum, but we have to get somewhere with destroying them soon.” She then spoke to Nadia quickly. “They’re affecting wavelength control, too. These woods smell angry and guilty. Are there any weaknesses in their core?” She asked, needing to jump back and dive around to avoid getting hit.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Irina​

"The Research Witch"​

Species Witch
Location Russia, Republic of Karelia, Valaam, Northeast Forest line
Mission The Waking Forest


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

The cool air quickly warmed from the movement within it. The bark and flesh of the trees cracked as they moved unnaturally in their new treant forms, and with it came friction that warmed the air. In any other situation, the brisk mountain air being warmed might have been an amicable change, but as it stood, it only marked the new danger and increased difficulty the group was facing. In the distance beyond the immediate vicinity, more treants were forming from far-off trees twisting together, creating an amalgam of plant-life to take on humanoid forms. The vines became less obtrusive as more and more of the nearby forest was being formed into these treants, but the roots only became more desperate to grasp onto any nearby target as they shot forth through the ground like worms at the feet of Nadia, Sara, and Adrian any time they stood still longer than a few seconds.

"These are greater treants!" Irina shouted, realizing more and more of what was going on. "I can see over a dozen from up here, and they're all moving!" she added, "the Lord of these woods reall--" but she was cut off.

Adrian had spent the last few moments trying to make his way to her, dodging roots where sprouted through the ground, but his geared shifted upon seeing what was occurring with Irina. While she tried to provide insight to the group, the very tree she took shelter in lowered its branches and tried to capture her inside a cage of wood while pinning her with a surprise set of vines. She sensed the mana flowing before, but not now. Either the caster could hide and knew to, or her perception was thrown off like theirs. Either way, Adrian knew to intervene.

Self-Resonance was still off the table for the Autonomous Weapon, but his highly-honed amplification was enough to make the burst into a leap that might have briefly rivaled Sara if only to knock Irina out of the maw forming around her. Spikes erupted from his back to shred the tree limbs that were surrounding them, and Irina countered the vines herself by forming more blades of ice to slash through them.

Adrian caught Irina and guided her to the ground, though it was hardly the type of princess catch one might have expected him to try with Dani. Instead, it was a rough tumble to the ground only cushioned by well-timed spikes transforming from his back in sequence to briefly touch the ground, then revert, in shorter intervals, allowing a gradual deceleration. Irina quickly stood up, then went back to back with Adrian. "Communication is breaking down," Irina grumbled, more so complaining aloud to her current partner.

"Then know this: I can only fight as a short range, and my spikes hurt," Adrian responded, taking her comment as less of a direct complaint and more of an instruction to tell her anything he thought relevant now.

The two began their own little dance remaining mostly back to back. Adrian was hardly capable of dealing much direct damage to the trees alone, but Irina had more spells than those simple ice slashes. She began freezing the treants around her one by one. Her Ice Magic wasn't comparable to something like the ice storm Zelda could create, but it was enough to both slow down the treants and make them brittle enough for Adrian to stab through with enough raw force. A new finding with this tactic was that the treants could not simply regenerate their damaged bodies, they either broke down or retreated back to absorb another tree into their fold. As the dance with Irina and Adrian continued, slowly but surely, they cleared a small area around them.

Meanwhile, the situation with Nadia and Sara went considerably different.

Another treant stepped into the battlefield with Nadia, but it did not immediately attack. Instead, it further integrated with one of the other treants. Whether it was aware she had a sword or this was just their natural fighting style, it ultimately fused the two together, changing the form of the greater treant. It's entire form was larger in general, but the greatest change was that of its hands. Where once humanoid-like fists of three fingers and a thumb were present, large hammer-like appendages formed and were supported by a system of vines and interconnected portions of tree. Each had a thick top which came together to form a type of shield, giving the impression that the counter this treant took for a sword was that of a shield and hammer. While that form change occurred, the other treant dove in at Nadia, throwing its entire body at her in a sliding tackle with its arms wide open in an attempt to increase its surface area as large as possible. Meanwhile, various slits in its body where the different tree trunks and limbs were forced together opened up, launching a myriad of vines at Nadia pre-emptively as if assuming she would dodge with a leap.

Sara faced a different setup from the treants. As she was nimble and quick, two additional ones came to her for a total of four. The one fighting her immediately was considerably smaller and notably significantly faster than the others. While it did not match her speed, it was able to twist and warp its body to be on the assault at all times from any direction. Being only slightly larger than her and diving after her in non-stop sequence, each time it missed with a swipe, a kick, or attack, it was able to immediately rush in the opposite direction it was facing, meaning that momentum and redirection meant nothing to this nimble little bastard. Furthermore, it seemed to have stolen some pages from the book of Adrian as it began to imitate the fighting style he was using, creating long, wooden spikes from its hands that it shifted into fast, repetitive stabbing motions and lunges aimed at Sara.

Worse in regards for Sara were the three larger treants surrounding her, though they did not seem to attack. Instead, they formed a circle with the two treants that Adrian had dodged and wove through to drop off the other weapons. Each one of the treants outstretched their arms and from them, various vines and tree limbs connected in a large area around Sara, creating a pentagon like cage around her in what was at first a fairly large area that now only began to shrink as they began walking forward, trying to capture her inside. While Nadia was countered with a massive shield-like treant, the more agile Sara was given a counter in raw numbers and a cage.

The living woods proved a more intelligence foe than any had dared to initially consider.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The taxi ride wasn't as disconcerting as Dani had predicted. The rejection was more unnerving than anything, but not debilitating, which meant less time would be needed to get accustomed to Nadia's hold. She could tell the story was different with Eva though. They were about as incompatible as a weapon wielding a weapon could be.

"Thanks Adrian," Dani expressed before she was handed off to Nadia.

Instantly, she felt more at ease, like a cog fit snugly in its place within a machine. Given the low rejection, it didn't take long for Dani to readjust to Nadia, though the disruption from the negative emotions in the area did get in the way somewhat. Still, Dani let out a sigh, intaking, regulating, and beginning to amplify her partner's wavelength little by little.

"Nice as it is to be popular for once, you can both take turns holding me after the trees are dead," Dani remarked to the two of them.

Thankfully, Nadia was of the same mind as her and would not be shying away from damaging the local flora. Hearing Irina speak as to the types of creatures they were dealing with, Dani cared little what level of treants they were so long as they were susceptible to being cut through all the same. However, when one called upon another to use as a weapon, she simply stared a moment as if confused by what she was watching.

"...The ferns are fucking mocking us!" She growled out before taking note of the unarmed treat charging them from behind. "6 o'clock!"

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider

 

[RedArmyShogun]

~~~Deda Village~~~
​

Looking beyond Elly at the pair speaking, it seemed they had a lot to say, though from how they all acted it would seem that woman was something else altogether. "Interesting. But ah, Miss Elly... Hmm and who is this?" Turning his attention to the new arrival, she seemed to voice confidence in fixing the vehicle. Though it was not like the damage was ther server, though her notion of acquiring parts from the locals was more amusing. And he very much doubted she intended to pay. While theft wasn't so uncommon in his land, there were people of good moral character here as well.

"I do hope you plan to pay for the parts, but ah... Places to go. Not so many here speak english, though that woman seems to know our language, I would check around the train station, there is a car lot around there, there is also an Inn near the church. Still, if you wish not for my assistance, I shall take my leave for now... I am sure we may meet again."

With that, he observed the other talking, and could hear the faintest of sounds emitting from single earbuds from the agents before him. "Hmm, but ah, two of our officers will be following you all at a distance, till you've found accommodations, or have left the Village."

With that, the Priest walked off, leaving words with the two other officers, before getting in the car with the other two, which included the bloodsucker and left. It seemed he had other places to be, people to see, or other agenda's to deal with, leaving the DWMA Agents to plot out their next course of action as the other police car shadowed them from a distance.


Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Peckinou

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Romania
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly clapped her hands together, as if pleased by the information disclosed by the man. "You're quite a breath of fresh air~. Thank you for your help, Father."

Saying nothing as to the policemen she simply gave the priest a wave as he departed before smiling at the bloodsucker. It was a pleasant smile of acknowledgement on its face, though underneath it was one that knew he wanted to kill them in broad daylight. She placed a hand each on the shoulders of Annika and Arkayis, turning and urging them toward Gauss, Noah, and the supposed investigator.

"Alright, good and bad news then," Elly said, once in earshot of the four and away from the cops. She spoke with an approachable demeanor that betrayed the context of what she was actually saying. "Good news is the priest is gone and I don't think he hates us, or the population, more than normal. Bad news is that he's a bloodsucker thrall, the cops will be tailing us at a distance, one of them's a Bloodsucker that wants to bite us, there's even more Bloodsuckers a ways away, and I wouldn't be surprised if get jumped when we leave the village," She said, quickly and concisely summarizing some of her observations thus far. "So, love, care to tell us what you know? I know there's a whole thing about vampires and Romania, but it's a tad suspicious we end up in a place with so many, and some of whom seem to have an interest in you in particular."

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider Peckinou Merciless Medic The Regal Rper

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ileana | The Shwn Inn | Deda Ville, Romania

Alvilda scoffed, it was both in partial concern and in amusement. “Watch it, pretty boy.” unlike Ileana who merely smiled at the implied threat. It was better than them just sending her off to be handled by the officers here.

“ You always like to dangle a good time with all the girls you meet?” Whether they trusted her right off the bat didn’t matter, all that mattered is that they listened to what she had to say.

It was then the priest made his announcement of his departure before Gauss could follow up with an immediate reply. The tension in her muscles, especially as the Bloodsucker left and Elly approached, eased, but the caution remained.

Good news is the priest is gone and I don't think he hates us, or the population, more than normal. Bad news is that he's a bloodsucker thrall, the cops will be tailing us at a distance, one of them's a Bloodsucker that wants to bite us, there's even more Bloodsuckers a ways away, and I wouldn't be surprised if get jumped when we leave the village”


At Elly’s prompt, Ileana replied: “ I’ll make it clear. I wasn’t aware that the problem here ran deep enough for even some of the authorities here to be under an influence. Seeing it yourselves, you all must understand” she said, speaking softly, “ that things here are more dire than even I thought.”

She hadn’t known there were Bloodsuckers outside watching them during the exchange, Elly saying it honestly just made everything look grim.

“ I had a place in mind, but now I think it’d be better if we skip that place and go to another. In either case, whether we leave or stay, it is likely they are going to be tailing us. I didn’t want to make it known I was an Investigator, but my hand was forced.”

She began walking, expecting the others to follow- not like standing near vehicles they had no intention of using anymore was going to matter. “ The walk from there to the place I have in mind should take us only a couple minutes if we leave now.”

She pointed southwest. “ If we head in that direction there is an inn I know we can spend the time talking more in private. Follow, we don’t have time to waste.”

She didn’t bother waiting to see if they would, she expected them to. It took a good fifteen minutes on foot before they made it to the Inn Ileana was talking about. The entire walk there, she told them minor things, but not what she knew about her research in the villages.

Gangs were common here. The MIBVI had seen to that and economic unrest had made it more likely.

Mercenary work was quite lucrative as a result, acting as guards for transit in trades or even sometimes support for officers, or even security in handling certain business when the village needed it or nearby cities required it. The reason Mercenaries were many here was because it was simply good business, toss in the Supernatural and you could find a decent bit of work around these parts unlike in America, or other places that had a larger population, stronger local law enforcement and easier access to Agents like the DWMA or Guild.

Throw in the bits of corruption here and there, and this place was a mercenary's happy work day.

Once they reached the Inn, Ileana made a head gesture to Gauss with a satisfied smile. “ Only fair, since we’ll be spending the night together.”

Once he paid, or if the innkeep was unwilling, when she did, they had their rooms. Beds, a small table that linked to a small little kitchen and that was it. It wasn’t a Five star inn but it was better than nothing. After being given a minute, Ileana met the group in Gauss room, followed by an unfamiliar face. Her weapon partner no doubt. A lithe, light brown red head, that was a head taller than her partner, hair tied in two buns with glittering sapphire eyes, who took her seat behind Lea, watching them as she chewed something in her mouth.

“ Where do we start?” Alvilda asked.

“ The reports.” Her partner replied.

“Reports as you all should be aware of, are scattered. Per Agent Sunder’s request[/color], name dropping Az like that to give them a signal she was more legit than their doubts would have them think, “ I have been to these villages in and out, often cases, disguise, just as I am now to avoid being easily noticed. In my time here over the last month I’ve noticed an increasing shift in activity here. In Bistra, another village a distance from here where I was doing part of my investigation, I found many of these.”

From the hip carrier pack behind her, she opened it and sunk her hand into the small storage device to almost the elbow.

Magitech, no doubt.

When she pulled her arm out, in her gloved hand, the possible brunette dropped several ID cards down onto the table.

They all said DWMA, one or two even said G.O.M signifying mages, and perhaps if they were legitimate the fact she had so many, twelve to be exact, should have been immediately alarming. A call to action even, considering Midori would have been the first and fastest to react.

On closer inspection though, it was quite clear that the details on some of these ID cards were off. They lacked the Insignia of Lord Death in one case or the position of the Insignia was off. The serial number at the back of the card, held dashes instead of just numbers and a single letter. The color scheme of one was wrong in another case. The cards looked legit, enough to pass for fakes, but when compared to theirs and even hers, it became clear if looked at carefully, they were fake.

“ Now that that is out of the way.” Ileana decided, no longer feeling the need to validate herself, “ the reports mentioned often that people who had DWMA IDs, dubious ones, showed up frequently here. Both before and after politicians assigned individuals to handle whatever issue plagued this place.

“ We all know Bloodsuckers are tied into this. Reports spoke of nightly activity and monsters attacking people sometimes passing through using the train station. The fact the station still functions is suspicious enough but put that aside for now. There’s been numerous reports of activity around this whole area” she circled the map she had placed on the table, the area they were in and certain areas around the commune.

“ There’s been attacks and disappearances going on for a while. Most often it is attributed to gangs that pass through here or mercenaries known to cause trouble for authorities here in Romania. Half the mercenaries that came to these villages including the ones politicians hired. They clearly need help, but don’t want it.

“ Do you know how many times the Eastern Branch communicated with politicians if they required extra support? Several. Over the span of three months. Every single time it was rejected.”

“ Before I met you, I ran into one civilian here who warned me to leave before I got myself in trouble. I understood later why he said it. ”

“ Don’t forget the whole ‘Enforcer’ thing these guys seem to be obsessed with.”

Ileana sighed. She ran a hand over her hair, and then pulled the brown hair off her head, curls of blonde hair falling around her shoulders.

“ Thanks Vilda.”

“ The Enforcer” Vilda supplied, popping gum nonchalantly as she looked at the others, “ is this big bad that seems to live or works with the nest here. Whatever it is, it's strong enough not to be overpowered by them immediately and made into their food. That’s what we assume at least. Have you ever heard of Bloodsuckers just nodding along and working with any other Monster Race unless they felt they really had to or an alliance was better than fighting?”

Vilda was right there. Bloodsuckers were a species with pride. Though their numbers were small, they were smart. Their history outlined that clearly. Even when the lesser groups were being hunted, they never sided with Witches or other Monster Races unless there was some form of great respect or deal made between them that was beneficial.

Dracula himself, did not side with anyone save a single Sorcerer, Witch, and one lone Meister and Demon Weapon who swore service to him, who had met the same end he had, though with great difficulty from what legend had to say.

Mosquito, Arachnee’s second in command, was the only Bloodsucker known in history, to have willingly placed themself under a Witch for service.

“ Whatever the Enforcer is, from what we’ve gathered” Vilda continued, “ not all the people here hate it. We don’t quite get why.”

“I think we need to find it.” Ileana stated. “My partner thinks we should focus on killing the Bloodsucker’s here.”

“So you can see we are at a bit of a disagreement.” Vilda informed them.

“ If they didn't care about the citizenry here there would be no village or villages at this point.” Lea pointed out.

“And I think finding the big bad controlling these things or at least working with them is idiotic. I won’t lie guys, the stuff we’ve learned personally makes me think we’re in over our heads here. A three star team is better for something like this. You know how many Weapon-Meister and even Mage mercenary groups have passed by here in the last three or so months and have lost members? Twelve. Excluding the ones that were hired here. That doesn’t even factor some that disappeared entirely. That thing targets mercenaries and gangs. We don’t know why.”

It was grim, the reports didn’t go into this level of detail, they mentioned disappearances, talked about strange activity with the capable mercenary groups, and had briefly hinted at some activity outside of the area months prior of some kind of Monster- but they’d never linked things in the way the Investigators were over their research. The fountain of information they provided and were piecing together for the group, saved them time.

Gauss had made the right call not allowing the Priest to take her away or suspicion to completely erode the positive relationship.

“If we’re doing anything, we should get out of here. If they’re tailing us, staying here is a bad move.”

“ If we travel, we’ll be just as screwed. You want to fight on a moving vehicle against undead? Weak as they may be, they can still injure any one of us if we act overconfident, and they clearly have the numbers from what Elly stated of her brief observation, and what we have learned, to be overconfident.”

“It ultimately is up to you guys how we proceed though, our disagreement aside.”” Ileana informed them. “Do you want to leave or should we hold ground and see what they do before we proceed in the investigation?”” she asked Gauss but her eyes did shift to look around at everyone as she spoke.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Peckinou EmperorsChosen

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Romania, Deda Commune, The Shwn Inn
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Focused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

"Only when they're remarkably attractive," Gauss responded quite seriously to her jest of a question. Though, it seemed that was the end of their more jovial exchanges as the remainder of the conversation became serious.

Follow them they did to the Inn described. With Elly around for observation, Midori as muscle if need be, and Annika capable of destroying just about anything in their path, alongside the destructive force of his own Demon Weapons, he wasn't particularly worried. Bloodsuckers everywhere, but Arkayis literally shot fire and Midori moved faster than most savage Bloodsuckers. He also remembered the damage Annika could just consistently do. She could cut and cut and cut far longer than he could burn or shock things by nature of those buzz-saw blades she used. Nothing in this town or any threat described, thrall or bloodsucker alike, thus far gave him worry.

Thus, when Ileana suggested they not pursue this big bad Enforcer or worried about an army of the undead, he was far less concerned. What did a bunch of undead surrounding a vehicle mean when Annika could cut through them like butter or he could burn them down in swathes? No one in this group was a particularly ordinary Meister. A few mercenaries duos were almost assuredly inferior to any one of them, and a Witch out here likely wasn't enough to make a difference if outnumbered.

"I only see two options here," Gauss said, offering his insight on the matter. "Either we go on the all-out offense, or we just go home," he told the entire group, his tone blunt and fairly nonchalant for the situation all things considered.

"Let's evaluate the situation. Let's assume that this is a three-star level threat and we have zero chance of eliminating it. Logic dictates that the intelligent decision is not to go fighting or waiting, but to return back to the DWMA with that information, pass it along through the channels, and let the politicians debate with the government about sending higher-level agents. We're Fate Agents with no real actual rank, though I would imagine everyone here is roughly around low-Two Star. Aside from Midori; he's an actual Hoshi assassin that is a two-Star, so there's that," Gauss spat out, painting the situation as to why their withdraw was logical.

"Now, let's assume that those twelve merc duos were absolute trash with no formal training. In my experience, mercenaries that aren't above a one-star aren't even comparable to actual agents. They would probably lose the Golem test. Reason being is that they can claim whatever that want out here, but there's no actual body to determine those are valid ranks. Same with a Witch, really. Under that assumption, our crew here is pretty solid. I have Magnetic Wavelength, am a Utility Meister, Noah has a Lightning Affinity with a Healing Wavelength, Arkayis is a scythe with a Fire Element and flames hotter than Hell, Annika is a Meister with magitech gadgets and a destructive capable that rivals my own, Elly has Super Soul Perception and the gift of common sense, and I shouldn't need to explain why Midori over there is a badass," Gauss went on, downplaying the fact this threat took down twelve others and upselling his entire team, not just himself. He was pretty confident in all of them, and it showed. Even Elly, had she wanted to watch close, could see he genuinely had a firm belief in all of them.

"Personally, I'm not worried about a horde of the undead. My only concern is the strongest foe on the board, and if we can kill them. If you and the rest of my team don't believe it's worth the risk, I say we just drive right back to the airport and go home. That would, in fact be the intelligent decision to make right now. Even if more civilians are lost or people go missiong, even if the opponent gets stronger, there is nothing to gain by us dying and subsequently not being able to report back to the DWMA. In fact, that would make the situation worse as the DWMA would have no clue. The signal out here is disrupted, else I would have demanded you verify your identity on the thumbprint scanner of your ID card a long time ago," Gauss explained, giving his personal input on the matter. As team leader, his words carried weight, but he also wasn't about to force his team into danger.

Gauss shifted his attention away from Ileana and back to the remainder of his group in the small rented room they had. Not favorite accommodations, but of course, there wasn't a nearby luxury hotel for to drop an obscene amount of money into, else he would.

"As leader, I'm going to turn this into a democracy for a moment. Put to it to a vote. Make any comments you want, I don't care. All we need to know is which side you're on. Go buy a new car or two, maybe a bike for the lady, then cleave our way to this enforcer fellow and test our luck with them, or alternatively also buy a new vehicle but instead go back to the DWMA? I'm fine with either decision, and arguably one is much more responsible than the other given that comms are down. While I have faith in us, I won't cast a vote. What also won't do is make a risky decision that leads you all into danger if I don't have to," Gauss told them, instructing them as to the fact they now had a say in what happened in this mission. Should they deem it so, and agree with Ileana that the whole situation was outright too dangerous, they could say fuck it all and go home. They had that power now.

"Discuss," Gauss mentioned, then looked over to Ileana, "last chance to go back to that other room before they come to a consensus," Whether or not he was serious wasn't exactly clear, but it was definitely on brand for him to say at the moment.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Romania
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly listened calmly to the words of the woman. It seemed the woman was a DWMA detective after all. She hummed as the other spoke on, weighing her words and the new information provided to them. It was all starting to fit into place, or at least insinuate something more sinister was at play than some random attacks by some random Bloodsuckers. It sounded as if the locals were at least somewhat aware of the involvement of the vampires from Illeana's statements. It also conspicuously fit with the mixed reactions of the populace when their car crash occurred.

Elly frowned a bit, and as speakers switched to Gauss, her eyes shifted to the side as if looking to the corner of the room or wall. She stepped closer to Midori, keeping him within quick reach as her gaze returned to the group.

"Well, I don't much like the sound of this Enforcer, especially since there was something that I sensed when we first entered the village," Elly spoke, clasping her hands behind her back. "It was brief, then disappeared, something I've only seen Midori do.... Regardless, it's clear that the populace is aware to one extent or another about the existence of the Bloodsuckers and the disappearances."

Looking between the investigator and Gauss, her eyes narrowed and she smirked. "My vote would be to leave on account of the lack of information. Another thing to note that's particularly interesting is that that vampire cop took orders from the priest, who was thrall of another. I'm no expert on Bloodsuckers, but that certainly isn't the norm. Regardless, much as I would prefer to leave and I'm sure you would love to fraternize, I'm not sure we have the time," Elly stated cryptically before continuing on. "There's a gathering outside the building. One's the officer. There's a few other blood-drinkers and some thralls, likely some unwilling accomplices."

Providing that information, a hand clutched onto Midori's arm. "And... have any of ye' noticed that the building grew a lot more quiet?" She said, pointing out the decreased number of patrons since they arrived.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Mook-LandStrider Merciless Medic Peckinou

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Romania, Deda Commune, The Shwn Inn
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Intrigued

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

Midori possessed experience both in foreign lands and on vastly more missions than anyone present. He knew this. Everyone around him knew that. He had avoided trying to tote that above the rest of them at any time, just like he tried to avoid referencing his rank. Undermining Gauss, or more accurately, the designated team leader, would not only serve to set an absolutely terrible example, but also dissolve the entire point of the leadership system that the program was trying to implement. For the most part, this remained easy. There were few things he disagreed with that Gauss did, though the largest culprit up until this point was revealing their status as DWMA Agents. The second was explaining their abilities vaguely to Ileana and her partner. He particularly wasn't a fan of being ousted as a Hoshi.

As an assassin at heart, Midori held a large value on the element of surprise. Withholding information was an important part of subterfuge and infiltration. Gauss effectively destroyed that within minutes of entering the commune. To Midori, these were nigh-fatal mistakes. Even if this woman was who she said she was, the fact Gauss announced it so openly and later needlessly divulged information about their fighting style... it was stupid. There were better, more discrete ways of going about it. Not that every agent was prone to using such methods, just that Midori specifically valued them highly and Gauss wasted them entirely.


Midori bite his tongue and didn't comment on them earlier. Hit bid his time, waiting to see how this played out. Sometimes, bold strategies paid off. This could be one of those times. Unlikely, but possible nonetheless.

Now Gauss has opened the door for input, and Midori wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. Not that he intended to critique every little thing that had gone on, but there was plenty working against them on this mission, and a lot of that they didn't necessarily have just stepping out of the airport. He had told Elly at one point that the Hoshi always made sure to have an escape plan. That they valued their lives and always made sure they lived to fight another day. This was his chance to secure that.

"I agree with Elly, but my reasoning is slightly different," Midori chimed in not long after his partner gave her two-cents.

"We are surrounded by enemies. It's true that I'm not particularly afraid of any of them, but I have hunted Bloodsuckers before. The amount of thralls they can have active at once is in direct correlation with their bloodline or overall power level. I don't know who or what this Enforcer is, but I do know that the numbers we see here lead to a Bloodsucker that I'm not certain is within our capabilities to bring down," Midori explained, first throwing in some of his experience as a Monster Hunter, though that was from a portion of his life that wasn't really his own. Still, the memories were all there.

"Aside from that, our element of surprise is gone. If these local, bottom of the food chain thralls know we're here, the entire network will. They know faces, names, and now depending on how well they're spying on us, abilities. In the battle of information, we've lost. Furthermore, we can't expect help from the locals or even the local branch of the DWMA. We have nothing but local comms, and the situation does get more dangerous each minute we remain still," Midori went on, further explaining his insight into the situation on a larger scale, expanding outward to explain some of the larger scale issues they were facing.

"Lastly, let's look at some alternatives. We can try and return, like you said. Maybe we make it, maybe we get intercepted. If we get intercepted, it's probably the same fight as if we went to go hunt the Enforcer. Assuming we survive, we might at least get back to the Airport. If not, we go on the run. If we do get back to the airport and make it back to the DWMA, we can at least relay information about the dire situation this place is in. They can use that as political leverage to have either a higher ranking team or a team of dedicated Bloodhunters to come out. That is a win condition in my book," Midori explained, outlining some of the potential outcomes and the singular one he considered a victory in their current situation. "Now, let's say we do go to the Enforcer. Assuming we get there, we find them, and we either fight, kill, or otherwise incapacitate them. Remember, there's a chance that they're not who we're actually after. If that is in fact the case, there may well exist someone even further up the chain we need to hunt down. Bloodsuckers normally have a chain of command like that, especially given how many thralls seem to be present. We may win that fight only to find out we're outmatched in the next, and probably in worse shape for it. If we have to retreat with that knowledge, it will be harder. We will also leave in the same position we would if we did just from the beginning. There is the option of going up the ladder as far as possible, killing anything and everything we meet as we go, but that assumes we can actually do that. There does always exist the chance that we just plain die."

Midori was quite serious. His eyebrows raised, and those two-toned eyes of his scanned the room, making sure his point was known to everyone. "Our death isn't just the worst outcome for us, it's the worst outcome for the DWMA. More agents lost on an international mission, but also no intel gained on the threat out here. Our options are not just leave or fight, it's return with confirmed intel or risk dying and returning nothing. As the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I know factually Cyrus wouldn't be pissed if we elected to return on that premise. It's not uncommon for agents in the in-between ranks, like myself, to find out new intel, decide the situation has changed out of my favor, and return to report so that a more adequate force can be used. There is value in the ability and humility required to decide you aren't the best suited for a mission," he told them all, pushing some words of wisdom, but overall pointing out how it could quite possibly be a boon on them to return.

Midori then elected to recede back into the room and into the grasp of Elly. He elected to speak through their connection instead of aloud. 'There's a lot I'm noticing that I'm not a fan of. We're sitting ducks out here and the enemy knows our location. My fighting style is entirely out the window, so any fighting we do will essentially be a brawl. Worse, if the enemy has enough forces and is determined, they could turn this into a battle of attrition, which we would surely lose. I think we're testing our luck staying here and moving forward is jumping off the deep end of overconfidence, given how little we still truly know,' Midori told her, summing up his thoughts to her in a more blunt and direct way. Honest, really, and less confrontational. It would have been easy to see just how perturbed he was about the loss of so many assassination methods and principles.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Deda commune, Romania
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Peckinou Merciless Medic
​

Annika felt the hand on her shoulder and nodded. Turning back to their vehicle Annika removed two fabric covered sheaths from within. Holding them on each end she slotted them carefully onto the back of her outfit. The first one snapped into place with an audible crack causing Annika to grunt. She did the same with the other, a click followed by Annika letting out a slightly pained noise. With the two sheathes attached Annika tapped the fabric on her right leg in a pattern causing the sheathes to change color several times before beginning to refract the light, making the sheathes disappear to all but the most focused of eyes.

Rolling her shoulders she felt them rise and fall with her outfit. Taking a crystal out of her side pouch she reached up and slotted it into the choker she wore around her neck then another into a socket hidden under a small patch of fabric. Her outfit flashed once before taking its ‘normal’ colors once more. “Alright, I have everything I need.” Annika said to the others as they began to walk away from the scene of the accident.

Coming up to Gauss and the investigator with Ark and Elly she looked between them all and then back to the departing priest. “Perhaps a show of force would be applicable in this situation, though a subtle one perhaps.” Annika began to say “I can shift the fabric my blades are in to be more or less see through.” She was about to go on a technical ramble about how it wasn’t actually see through but a projection. Instead she repressed the explanation and looked to the woman that had slammed into their car.

“The situation is what exactly? Bloodsuckers? Undead?” Annika began to ask. She decided to leave her question for later. Arriving at the Inn specified Annika found her own little area and set her bag down and took off her black gloves before returning to the group in time to hear what was being spoken and explained.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to dealing with the blood suckers. As for being over our heads, I think we can handle ourselves if we really need to.” Annika added when it came time for them to discuss. “Would be a shame if we just leave to be honest. Then again, maybe we are in over our head.”

Annika looked to Gauss after Elly finished speaking and laughed “Fraternizing, sounds fun. Though it seems any sort of fun is going to be interrupted.” with the news of the gathering outside Annika reached back and moved the fabric covering the hilt of her weapons. Grabbing hold she pushed down, shifting the sheathes into an almost samurai like style.

“I think I am alright with leaving… but I also wouldn’t mind fighting our way out of here. Do you think we can just walk out of here? I feel like a cow being led into a slaughterhouse, fresh meat and blood moments away.” Annika said, somewhat changing her mind. The chaotic side of her wanted nothing more than to unleash herself once more, but she also knew it was a precarious path they had to tread.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Deda Commune, Romania
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Ileana, Alvilda, Annika, Elly, Midori
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Peckinou

Mr. Gauss-Man didn’t answer his questions to him, but it was likely because Gauss himself didn’t even know. Elly, Annika, Arkayis, and Midori came to the group once the cops left them alone, but his attention was still on “Father” Artur, even as the older man left. He couldn’t hear anything that was happening, but that didn’t matter as the four came back and both Elly and Annika spoke before they left to some inn.

They were going to be watched…

Then, Ileana did something he thought was incredibly stupid and pointed to the goddamn inn they were supposed to go to. What kind of idiot-...

Frustration with trying to keep a low profile right after Elly had said they were going to be followed had left Noah frustrated. Why didn’t they go somewhere else? Fake out the cops? Was it even going to matter though? Elly said they might get jumped anyway, and the amount of people who may or may not be against them was likely going to make that moot.

Still, the more and more he thought about how loudly they came in brandishing who they were, the more he realized how stupid this all was, and this wasn’t some sudden need to reclaim his intelligence for the stupid decision he made earlier.

Much of his frustrations was known to Gauss as they were still connected, and he only transformed back to normal as they were put in the inn. He had a sour face as he leaned against the wall of the room, his gaze firmly planted on the floor, brows furrowed, jaw tense.

He felt his old ways of really needing to break something resurfacing as he just got angrier at the situation they had, but he wasn’t any less stupid about what was going on around them. It was a dangerous situation, but they dealt with Paris. They dealt with the April Fools attack.

Ileana’s flirtations towards Gauss only made him more sour because that wasn’t the point of this whole talk. Useless words. Honestly, he felt like she might as well have been working with them if it weren’t for how legit the ID was. And how did she get all those IDs she laid on the table?

He eyed her suspiciously, his distrust for most people coming in full force as he stared daggers into Ileana and Alvilda, the fires of rage only calming slightly once Gauss spoke and turned towards the others to talk about it. He clicked his tongue and sighed once Annika got her turn in, and he spoke up, though quiet at first it, it soon rose with a fiery passion made of rage.

“Honestly, my lazy ass side of me wants ta leave ‘cause of how bad of a position we’re in. My logical side is sayin’ it could be very dangerous, but we literally survived the April Fool’s attack with even less info.” His face twitched in annoyance at the memory, and he pulled himself off the wall as he stared at the investigator. He then scoffs, lip curling with disdain. "With how ya've been for the fifteen minutes we've seen of ya, what makes ya think they haven’t already saw through yer disguise? If the people’re aware, then it’s likely you askin’ ‘em questions had ‘em talkin’ to the Thralls about ya, so yer cover’s blown anyway. We can’t trust anyone here, let alone their word as they may embellish their info, so yer info's tainted with that possibility, too. What if they used ya to lure outside agents 'n' mercs here ta deal with 'em?”

He then pointed at Ileana accusingly, eyes narrowing, uncaring what her weapon was going to do. "I dunno if I can trust yer word 'cause of that. Pointin' in the direction of this inn might as well just put a huge target on this place before we even got here. Name droppin’ someone we know doesn’t explain shit ‘cause Sunder’s kinda easy to know outside the DWMA due to his work. Gauss’s right, those people before who impersonated DWMA agents might’ve been rather weak in comparison ta us, so it might not be as bad as ya claim. Bloodsucker ‘r not, we haven’t done any reconnaissance of our own to determine how troublin’ this could be."

He took a deep breath, letting it out in a frustrated growl, tone low. “If there is a fight from this “ambush” Elly talked about or if we get into any other fights afterwards ‘n’ we see it’s not so bad, could be one of two things. One, it’s really not that bad to face off against ‘n’ we can likely do this ‘n’ not get the European branch of the DWMA mad at the Fate program ‘n’ the American branch for bein’ cowards. Two, they’re tryin’ ta lure us in with easy pickin’s, so our element of surprise’ll still be gone dependin’ on how much ya decide ta use against ‘em at first. We still have some element of surprise though in how we work, even if we don’t have any initially in what we are 'r what we can use.” He looked over at the door, then the window, hands shaking from the unbridled rage. Those who could see his soul could see it sparking bright and unevenly as he tried to contain his rage. Some of the lightning sparked and crackled across some of the items throughout the room, though this seemed to be rather purposeful, as if he was checking for wires or anything like this were some spy movie.

He closed his eyes, then spoke quietly, which only magnified the silence throughout the inn. “
"It’d be a good idea to go back ‘n’ give information, but the info we can give might not matter if they end up goin’ inta hidin’ ‘n’ makin’ it a waste of time 'n' changin' their shit.” He then spoke this even quieter so as to allow those nearest to the door to hear outside and to make it harder for those trying to listen in.

“I propose we learn what we can while makin’ it look like we’re dealin’ with the issue, then leave - you two comin’ with,” he pointedly looked at Ileana and her weapon, showing he at least cared about their lives despite grilling them. “- ‘n’ we can let a more experienced team deal with this while these guys think we’re still here if we’re still anxious about continuin’. If it’s not as bad as you originally thought, then we can deal with it ourselves. As f’r this Enforcer fella, if ya said he works with the nest here, then that means there’s someone above ‘em. We got no info on that. I know we’re cuttin’ it close to Midori’s concern if we go with my idea, but it doesn’t feel right not knowin’ who’s in charge at least ‘n’ leavin’. That is… If they haven’t already heard me talkin’ despite how quiet I am, ‘n’ I dunno if there’s somethin’ in here spyin’ ‘r eavesdroppin’ on us.” He didn’t say it pointedly, and it seemed like his anger had subsided once he got it all out of his system. He was trying to account for everyone’s concern and trying to find a compromise if one could even be feasibly done. To those seeing into Noah’s soul, he was just as uneasy about staying here, but far more determined to get more information on what's going on and being more useful with said information when a good chunk of it could be moot if the one in charge ended up changing anything later.

The battle of information hasn’t been completely lost yet.

Getting ready for a fight, he looked at Gauss, then shimmered brightly into his weapon form to be wielded by him, the frustrations he had earlier easing into determination.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Mount Yeleon, Russia
Interactions: Eva, Treants
Mentions: Nadia, Dani, Adrian, Irina
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

Greater treants???

The greater portion of that name seemed a bit of an understatement. Not only was there one that had began forming into a bigger one, Sara had to jump away from more roots and an even faster treant, a circle of treants forming around her to block her in. She realized the combat form this treant was using and her blood ran cold.

They’re copying Adrian…

How did they know???

Trying to find a way to get out, she ducked around and saw that the walls hadn't closed off the top yet. Avoiding another spike, she rolled away and sprung onto the wall, then used her agility to wall jump chaotically, sometimes not even gaining altitude, and other times not even going to the opposite wall as she either ran at a curve or jumped to another part of the wall, always trying to land on a piece of the wall that she hadn’t bounced on before and keeping her appendages clear of any hooks or footholds that could be used against her.

Considering she’s done this during her training, this was easy.

Trying to make sure the walls and the thing under her didn’t grab or attack her was a whole other issue.

When she felt like something got too close, she used Soul Conduction through Eva to smash at the vines or the spiky treant as she made her way up. Eventually, she found the tree tops and jumped up to grab a branch to then swing down, keeping contact with the trees as sparingly as possible as she made her around Irina and Adrian's direction but far enough as to not lead the enemy towards them, yelling.

“Adrian, this thing chasing me is fighting just like you! It's almost like it knew of our sparring match!!!”

Well, it all depended on if she managed to get out in time and was able to relay the information.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

~~~Deda Village~~~
​

As the group near unanimously voted to leave, fate would try and intervene. Fate, Hubris, Terror, Spite, Aggression. Suddenly and with only Elly's words as warning a scream could be heard as a window was smashed and broken, the other men left or uneasily stood by the door as Elly would feel a familiar presence, or two as point of fact, the Thrall, the Priest and the one that had hold of him far away. Broken glass could be heard clattering as heavy boots hit wood and stone, growing ever closer, the sound of something being dragged could be heard, followed with a slam as the door was thrown open, the Vampire Cop was used as a battering ram and flinched in pain before collapsing, the Priest stood before them.

Unknown to the Agent who was in the other room till this point, it was clear that the Priest was using Wavelength amplification, and was one of the missing mercenaries, while not as powerful as the weapon and Meister pairs here, he could not just be ignored. More so by the lesser vampire that he through through a window and now a door, for he was a greater Thrall and something more became evident.

He was here to be a messenger, his eyes had a faint red hue, his master assuming a direct influence over him, as his eyes looked at each of them in the room, soul perception touching each and everyone, as the greying man repeated his findings to a black stone, pulled from his coat. "A golem?... A would-be witch. A weapon engorged upon witch souls, a comely lass with greater soul perception.." Staring at Noah, he seemed to have nothing to say about him, as he looked for and then at the emerging Gauss, the DWMA secret agent, was not worth of his or her notice, as the black stone spoke.

"Ah... A Thales. My, interesting, almost as the time the foul mouthed Russian gorilla girl hunted me with her dearly departed friends and turned on her partner in desperation... Place the seeing stone upon the Table, by ancient arts and time before man I shall see and speak to them."

Doing as he was told wordlessly, the Priest does so; the black stone shines and seems to crack, runes that were made 100's of years ago, that even now offered the clarity and two-way sight as she took measure of them all, an image projected like a holographic display. Before them stood a small petite girl, in a dress and cloak, adorned with jewelry, whose presence seemed to leak from the stone, something far more powerful, oppressive and detached staring at them as if she were window shopping. A black cat laid in her arms, as she spoke in accented English with the bearing of a noble from a time long gone by.

"How wonderous, the last group to come were all too easily broken, what few made it away from that Frog Man, I killed or enthralled myself... DWMA, why are you here? Why are you in my Garden? I who have lived centuries in service to my great King, the one and only King of the Vampires, Lord Dracula... And yet you dare come here now? Weeds in what is mine by noble right? But ah, manners...

I, Baroness Calinescu wish to cordially invite you to my Castle that overlooks Calimani Village. When Night falls you may enter. For I wish to extend an offer of Immortality and Servitude to a worthy few of you that can reach my throne. You all are simply too interesting and unique to be left to the dust of time and through Service to I, all in life will be so much clearer. Doubt plauges the mortal races. I have played the game that the Frog Man wishes, and honestly it has became so boring and dreadful, why should I step carefully for the Vermin around me? His gifts aside, ah... Even the Dark Lord understood the importance of using fear to keep the commoners in line.

And ah, if you wish to refuse, given the heroes you all are, I have taken hostages from the surrounding villages and thanks to my special helper I've gotten more than a few souls to influence and power other things aside... What I'm getting at, if you mongrels do not understand magnanimity and words of power, its rather simple. Accept my offer, or I'll simply burn down everything I can't use. At least as Zombies those not worthy of my mercy will be of greater use to me than they ever did alive."

With that she flashed a smile, fangs showing prominently. "Unless of course you believe you can stop me, such a grand and intoxicating innocence. Many have tried, many have failed. Do think over your decisions again. Your talks were rather amusing that I heard through my lesser minions when that fool tried to usurp my commands... Though, ah, if you still wish to run, leave one of your number behind, then the rest shall never be pursued, in fact I won't even launch a reprisal upon the humans... But ah, the day grows late. Farewell."

And with that the black stone ceased to function, as she sent final instructions to the Priest. She had not even bothered to answer their questions or stopped in her monolouge once to allow a slip in for the others. It wasn't a conversation. It was a dictate. A come and accept my gifts, or come to try and destroy me. If neither are done, I will take my vengeance upon the Civilian population. Then there was the 3rd option, the status quo could continue with her light hand upon the village and all they had to do is surrender one of their own.

"The Mistress... She wishes for you to only arrive to the village once the sun has set... If the Enforcer will allow this or test you, I cannot say. He is who defeated most of us, but I hope you will reconsider... You will not be harmed for now." With that, he reaches back out for the Lesser Vampire, and drags him by the leg, he was not yet out, but it was uncertain if he would answer questions or even had the same will or mental fortitude to do so. Either way, with her direct intervention his presence of mind could potentially allow for a conversation.

The Noble in her disappointment and to set things right, had simply deemed the vote invalid and now held the sword above innocent lives.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Peckinou

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Romania, Deda Commune, The Shwn Inn
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Intrigued

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

Elly might has well been a fortune teller. Her perception paired with cynicism came together to make the sudden intrusion feel like a certainty she had foretold. Not that Midori didn't predict it, either, but the insight Elly had with the incredible distance and consistent use of her perception painted a clearer picture of the world for her to make her predictions from. Midori on the other hand had but experience and training, expecting the worst at any given situation.

His arm transformed upon the barging in. He was ready to blitz just about anything that entered the room, and his own Soul Perception informed him that it was, in fact, some type of undead--likely another Bloodsucker--and a thrall entering the room. Their souls were distinctively different with one more human than the other, but neither truly being human at all. Killing intent radiated off of the Autonomous Weapon, not exactly a feeling exclusive to Elly, and his reaction times were far more keen than the abundance of the rest of the room. His mind went a million miles an hour contemplating the next series of actions. If he had to attack, it needed to be quick. He would need to be back in the hands of Elly as soon as possible. He could likely have an attack and return by the time the rest of the group was ready, and Elly herself would be apt to have him in her hands. Even if he could have only cut through one or two of what he expected to be the upcoming undead targets, that might be enough to make a noticeable difference in these early moments of the confrontation.

As events unfolded, that strategical thinking and his quick reaction times were entirely unnecessary. Those that barged in were but mere messengers. Factually, there was no reason they couldn't have just knocked. Chances were, the group would have hesitantly let them in. Busting down a door only increased the chances of a more lethal response, and he doubted such would go down well given the environment they were in.

Then again, Gauss elected to blow their cover and this alleged CIA agent was hardly covert, so he couldn't judge the actions of their enemy when his own allies were so... stupid, for lack of a better term.

Actually, yes, yes he could. Midori was incredibly frustrated with all parties. These undead minions were unnecessarily forceful and a portion of the agents that surrounded them--assuming the story from Ileana was true--lacked what he considered common sense. Maybe it was his mindset as an assassin or the strict lessons he was taught as a Hoshi catching up to him, but nothing about this situation seemed logical. This was all one massive fuck-up in his mind.

It only became worse as this supposed Baroness invited them somewhere, making threats, obviously wanting them under her thumb. That family name Gauss was so quick to toss around, though this time he hadn't quite revealed his identity, proved to only make him a target. In all honesty, it was hard to tell who wasn't a target. Almost every one of them seemed to be regarded as mere playthings. The ramblings of this apparently royal Boodsucker only further cemented it in his mind that this was nothing but a game to her.

A fucking game.

All of this boiled up inside of Midori, infuriating him more and more. Gauss didn't seem to have the forethought to plan out any amount of time undercover, his actions stood out entirely as soon as they all arrived by just outright dropping obscene amounts of money on locals to drive them to the commune. That was a red flag in and of itself. The locals used the railway and more local transport options, which had they been patient and thought out the scenario would have also been an option, and a superior one at that for flying under the radar.

But, no, the fuckhead rich boy was their leader. The idiot that thought money was a superpower without ever considering it could be a detriment.

Death-damnit all, this was a mess.

The lesser vampire left, but Midori kept his blade arm transformed in the event this was entirely a rouse to make them lower their guard. His perception remained active and constant. He was tired of just relaxing here and letting fuck up after fuck up derail this mission. He didn't care what Gauss said at this point. He didn't care about democracy. He didn't care about this Enforcer. He didn't care about the desires of this Bloodsucker Baroness. He cared about stone cold logic and it was time for logic to take over.

"I am done with this joke of a mission," Midori announced, frustrating seething from every syllable of his sentence. The emphasis on the word done was only matched by how absolutely serious he was after being a backseat Weapon for the majority of the mission.

"Fuck the hypotheticals. Let's look at the cold, hard facts. There is a Bloodsucker out there so bold that they would announce themselves to us and invite us in. She gave away her lair. It's obviously a trap. She's trying to force our hand with hostages," Midori spat out, spewing these facts as if they should have been the Holy Gospel, known and apparent to everyone.

"I'm not even going to entertain the chance we can kill her. Even trying right now is absolutely fucking stupid," he continued on, not letting his command over the conversation end. "She is playing with us and it won't stop now. If we give in because of these hostages, Death knows what else is next. She could try the same tactic to split us up. She could manipulate us to dissolve this team into nothing--and since someone fucking announced our presence to the whole-ass village, she knows what we are and that we're more dangerous together. Beyond that, she's probably holed up in a lair somewhere; historically, those are real fuckin' dangerous, layered with traps and slaves and thralls and other Bloodsuckers, maybe some fuckin' monsters she's acquired over the years, maybe some mercs she bought with centuries of wealth, who the fuck knows. Not us," Midori said, enlightening the entire group now on the abysmal details of their situation and some additional information about Bloodsuckers he knew from his time hunting.

"Fuck the hostages. Let them die. If she kills them, it only gives the Romanian government more incentive to allow a group of Bloodhunters to go after her. She's got a lair; you can't exactly pick those up and walk off with them. Whoever or whatever this Enforcer is, fuck them, too," Midori nearly shouted, his emotions flaring up as he only got angrier and angrier at the realization of how shitty their situation was. His Hoshi colors were shining through. A killer at heart, he didn't actually care about the lives of a few random Romanian civilians given the danger posed to the group at the time.

"I am not walking into a trap. Let me tell you what I'm going to do," Midori added, shifting the conversation and tone, now specifically aiming his eyes, voice, and displeasure directly at Gauss. "I am going to make a bee line for the Airport. I might a steal a car. Maybe I'll sprint there, keep a low profile. It doesn't matter. What I'm not doing is sitting here while you flirt with this unknown fucking woman while surrounded by enemies in a dangerous environment against an unknown foe with literally no method of communicating with the outside world. I gave you a chance to lead and you fucked up at nearly every corner," Midori said, calling Gauss out for all of the shit decisions and poor judgements he had made in their literal few hours in the country.

"This is my executive decision. I'm not throwing out my my rank or status as a mentor. I'm not gonna undermine you. If your partners are stupid enough to follow you into a trap, so be it. In fact, if anyone wants to walk with the fuckboy right into the hands of a Bloodsucker, so be it. However, if the rest of the group still wants to return to the DWMA, you can. With me, and if anyone throws a bitchfit about it, I'll take responsibility," Midori explained, making it clear he had no intention to go to this lair at the designated location and that following him was in fact a valid option.

"This is the real world. Trying to play hero gets you killed. I'd rather be a coward that lives to see tomorrow than a hero that dies again tonight," he told them all, summing up his frustration and mentality in a final, bold statement barreling out of his mouth with absolutely no shame or farce in his voice. Midori was done. He intended to make it back to the DWMA, and he wasn't dealing with this bullshit in Romania a minute longer than he had to.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia
​

Around her as chaos broke, Nadia couldn’t do very much about it. At least with Dani in her hands, she was better able to regulate her own wavelength to stand a chance. The Witch and Adrian were holding their own. Even if just barely.

Studying the enemy, she was unsure if this was tailored to them, or studied from them. Then there was the other fucker coming up from behind.

‘With me Dani?’

‘I’m here,’ She replied. ‘Sara’s having trouble, but we gotta break ours before we can help her.’

‘Easier said than done.’ Taking notice of the one behind her Nadia steps forward and puts all her strength into trying her previous tactic, this time with a subtle difference. ‘We’re going to take a risk here, if I leave that smaller one behind us and him with the shield in front, we won’t make it and I can’t break that shield. Not without him pinned like him in Paris. I want you to regulate most of what I send you into my legs and my spine. Ready?’ The nice thing about soul talking was it happened at such a rate that the outside world seemed barely to move.

‘No problem. Give me what you got,’ Dani replied. ‘I’ll hold off on asking you what taking a risk means and trust that I won’t need to smack you.’

‘Heh… I don’t plan to die just yet, but we aren’t retreating. Not till we must and have tried to do our Mission.’ With that said Nadia bided her time, cutting into the vines and roots of the rear grabber, as the masses of wood came together. Leaping up after giving Dani a ‘Now!’ she springboarded off of the shielder tree and allowed the two giants to collide, before flipping over, going down the back of the smaller one, digging Dani in where she could get a hold and using her pure brutal force to rip into the back and where the heart would be if it were any other living creature.

“Sara! Irina! Adrian! Break your way out! But watch for the bastards, I am unsure if they are reading our memories, minds, there is a mole, or if they are being commanded by the caster. We shall advance through the enemy, use our abilities to sense them out in short bursts… As to the rest, we’ll deal with that as we go!”

She had much more she wanted to say, but time and the woody legion was but so long. “Sara, Switch foes with me! Your strength and mace should be better at dealing with the heavy Armor! Keep together and advance! All that waits behind us is illusions and civilians! Should the temperament of this being so bad as to kill us for just being here, there is no promise its onslaught will end just as we left!”

‘Regulate as we normally do for now.’

“Reading minds—Is that a fucking thing?!” Dani remarked at Nadia’s guesswork. ‘I’m starting to hate the fuckin’ woods.’

"Irina! You are the one being protected, if you want to fall back, just tell us! If you wish to continue to the Truth, we will push through!"

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Death Room, Death City | Rings: 3/3

She certainly didn't mince words. Flight for witches was easy, but still to offer Maria a broom was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't expected that and from his peripheral, neither had Rand. Though the minor little poke at them rolled over him. Ark didn't respond to it, he just ignored it entirely and was honestly grateful for Cyrus' interruption. He had his own bike that had been modified with some work done by his father and friends of his, that wasn't a gift he'd be giving up for a flying broom any time.

Besides the experiences he had with his cousins on them when younger were just downright awful. His expression of course didn't give any of that away.

Hearing of what was going on with the deceased however drew Ark's attention immediately. He gave a solemn nod, grateful for that update. Though witnessing the awkward hug with Rand between him and his sister made him...wince internally. He knew what that was like. At least with his more distant cousins when he'd returned to the U.S. alive. The hugs he'd gotten that then followed with adulations, had been incredibly disturbing. He hadn't liked it- nor had he liked the praise he'd been showered with at the Realm itself by servants alike. Despite being from a Low Family that had achieved a higher status through High Court and being picked up by a Witch of those courts the Astraeus House still made callbacks to their Low ties, and seeing Rand and Yara's rather awkward exchange reminded him a bit uncomfortably of that.

Yet again though, like stone, Ark was good at hiding this discomfort more easily. A testament of his improvement, if at least displaying he wasn't about to spiral into those thoughts. Especially at Yara's exclamation at his request.

Raph's scowl was ignored in favor for the reaction of Yara.

All of them? he thought with surprise. That he hadn't expected, but honestly it was fine. The request was due to what it would gain and pure curiosity, if she'd turned it down it would have been fine also. He wasn't worried about this leaving the group, and ultimately didn't care. It wasn't like the old days- where someone below rank would probably be punished by the more hardcore traditionalists of Wiccan society for trying to suggest even anything of romantic occurrence. Salaciousness probably would have been favored better in those days, at least. Yara so far hadn't stricken him as any, thankfully, and he was hardly worried about cousins of his House hearing word of any of this or his bold move outside of the contributions they had made.

Not unless Lady Yara, given her nature so far, felt like poking fun at him if they ever crossed paths in public again, something he highly doubted would happen outside of rare circumstances, his proposition would probably never leave this circle.

Noticing Rand's discomfort however drained some of the amusement he'd been feeling.

At Cyrus' dismissal Ark followed the rest out. Before Maria could leave though he nudged her, "Looks like you've caught someone else's eye." He said in amusement. He didn't think she'd entirely get it, not unless he stated it bluntly, but it was funny. At least before he recalled Rand's earlier discomfort.

"You alright?" He decided to ask him before he could leave also. "You too? Don't act like I didn't see your scowl earlier when I made the proposition of going out with her." He glanced at Raphael. Addressing the scowl he'd caught on his face.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Romania
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly watched as Midori spoke up next, shedding some more insight as to the potential power of their enemy and options before he returned to her side, stating more blatantly in private how displeased he was. Annika was more impartial, not so much wanting to leave, not not holding the same investment that Gauss had in remaining. Then there was Noah who also was in favor of ditching the current situation if possible. However, Elly's warnings came like predictions of the future when the gathering outside made their way in before presenting some sort of long-distance display of the vampire presumably in control

She was verbose and arrogant, speaking of Dracula and the macabre nature of their situation. On the one hand, Elly respected the woman having turned the whole village into her chessboard. On the other hand, Elly absolutely hated being a piece.

While Midori spoke with anger and vitriol, Elly waited for him to finish before adding her two cents. "You can B-line to the airport, but the lot of us can't, myself included. I'm sure you've all heard the bit about Irish and fisticuffs, but I'm not a boxer," Elly replied somewhat tiredly. "And if you leave, even temporarily, I guarantee they'll take advantage. We'd be down the strongest and most experienced of the team, but myself as well—unless Mr. Thales wants to share Noah or Arkayis. If they're as dangerous as you're afraid of, we'd all be dead before you return—if you could return. Who's to say they don't have a way of killing you as well? Surely it'd be easier when you're all alone. Lest you not forget, she did tell us to leave one and the rest shant be pursued... That could be a bluff, but still."

Shrugging as she looked up at Midori, it was clear she didn't care for the idea of being weaponless and surrounded by Bloodsuckers and thralls.

"Regardless of what we do, we shouldn't base our actions on the hostages. Midori has a point in that we can't allow her to manipulate us. Whether we choose to take her out or not, it needs to be our decision so that we're unimpeded," Elly moved on, swapping from criticizing him to giving merit to his objections. "As I said before, I believe our opportunity to withdraw is gone. She isn't simply running off some threats to her rule. You heard her, after all—A Thales, a golem, a witch, an engorged weapon, and Super Soul Perception. She knows what an asset is and doesn't want to lose it."

Laying out the words and meanings of the vampire's threats, Elly let out a sigh as she folded her arms. "This enforcer, or Frog Man, seems to be a third-party and operates outside of the vampire's will... Another thing to worry about... We need to pool our resources and knowledge to come up with a plan—Whether that is a plan of retreat or attack, I don't much care so long as it's the least likelihood of dying, and just sprinting blindly to get bit in the back I do not see as having a very high. Perhaps instead, we should devise a strategy to circumvent the bubble that has been cast over the area so that we can pull what records and intel the DWMA has on this Bloodsucker. Then we can have an idea of what we're working with."

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Mook-LandStrider Peckinou

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Arkayis considered everything that had gone by, Bloodsuckers was not something he really felt like dealing with, though with the amount of information they had, gathering a bit of further information without engaging would have been a more preferable option. If they had the element of Surprise Arkayis would of wished for further intel to be gained before making further plans, but they unfortunately didn't have such a luxury and that was made clear ever since they first arrived and got ambushed by that group of civilians. It was a pretty bad position to be in and Arkayis couldn't help but lean towards leaving, as they started contemplating the series of events, though he figured it really didn't matter since most people seemed to think leaving was the best option anyway.

Though it wasn't long before their conversation was interrupted by a most unwelcomed guest, as the commotion outside of their room began to calm down, a new figure appeared before them. The message they delivered made it clear that their adversary had a keen interest on them and like a wolf finding a flock of sheep and they wanted at least one of those sheep for themselves. Case and point this was not an ideal scenario to be in, especially with their every move more than likely being watched, and while Midori seemed really passionate about escaping, Arkayis wasn't really sure that would be the best approach and leaving the supposed witch was an option that the group more than likely wouldn't go with, he figured that the next best thing for was to just side with Elly. "An actual plan would be nice, we don't know much about them and their capacities, what is known is that she has quite a bit of influence here, wants at least one of us in her grasp, and is more than likely going to be very persistent about it." Arkayis didn't bother to mention the civilian casualties as he really couldn't care less about saving civilians anyhow.

"If we're gonna run when she clearly has her eyes on us, then we are basically going to be running the gauntlet, and I'm not really sure running into the unknown will work out too well." Arkayis gave a slight shrug, before adding on "But do whatever I guess, plan or no plan we will be dealing with quite a few unknown variables anyhow, and I'm not sure if winging it is in most of you guy's comfort zone."

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Deda Commune, Romania
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Elly, Midori, Annika, Ileana, Alvilda
Mentions: Father Artur, Baroness Calinescu
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Peckinou

Of course, things had to escalate, didn’t it?

The sudden intrusion of the “Father” appeared. However, his eyes looked a little funny. Even without soul perception, he knew something was off. He spoke, then the rock spoke, showing to them this Baroness. She was bold to show her face and even reveal her name.

Maybe that was something they needed? Granted, communications were pretty null at this point, so there was no ability to check the DWMA’s records as to who this Calinescu really was.

As it stood for Noah, if they didn’t have any way to gather more information, then they would have to leave so they may live another day. Battling Bloodsuckers were no joke. He had heard plenty of horror stories about how Bloodsuckers operated, and he wasn’t keen to join the statistics.

Still, the Father’s sudden arrival and the woman appearing before them as a hologram had him wondering. Why this sudden desperation? They really didn’t want them to leave and tell the information to the others, didn’t they? If they could cut going to the plane and finding what was jamming their signal, that would be great. As it stood now though, they had no information where this jamming thing was coming from, and he didn’t know if this bold move was because of desperation on the Baroness’s part to keep them here or because she had way more abilities to take care of them all than what was necessary. Thankfully, due to being connected with Gauss at the moment, the thought path Noah was running in his head was viewable to Gauss, so that got rid of needing to tell his Meister that personally.

They wouldn’t be harmed for now, but that will likely not hold when they made their move to leave.

He agreed more and more with Midori. He made too much sense even if his entire logic hinged around his self-preservation. The man didn’t want to die again, that was obvious. His Hoshi colors did show, and he admittedly agreed with Midori that Gauss did make some poor decisions, but the thought was fleeting as he preferred to think of other things at the moment. He just couldn’t shake how little they knew and it was irritating him. He just had an itch to just get as much information as possible, and going back to the airport may take too long. If they could just contact the DWMA about all this while they’re still in Romania and able to do something about this without the Baroness supposedly hiding, then that would be better for him. But then Elly did something he hadn’t expected her to. She was worried Midori would just leave them all.

Noah chuckled outwardly despite still being transformed, his voice low with a slight echo from being in his weapon form. “Heh, I’m sure if we were to all leave with Midori, I’m sure he wouldn’t let us get hurt if we went with ‘im by runnin’ beside us. Would be pretty stupid to leave those who’re agreein’ with ‘im, too. Arkayis’s right. Either way, our actions will lead us to a fight, but one path will lead to a bigger fight than the others. We might not be able ta get to the airport in time if we did run if they’re so dead set on makin’ sure we don’t leave. Our objective was to find information ‘n’ now we have some of it. If we had an idea of who’s jammin’ any comms ‘n’ if we can even get rid of it, it may not ensure everyone’s safety directly’r immediately but we can get some answers if the DWMA has any. It’ll be a better play if they’re not expectin’ it, but these are Bloodsuckers, ‘n’ I’m sure they heard me if they’re still around. I’m all f’r runnin’ if the goin’ gets tough though, but since they know we’re headin’ to the airport ‘n’ likely have sent people that way right about now, might as well throw ‘em off our trail ‘n’ make ‘em waste their time if that’s even possible. If we can get info as to who they are ‘n’ what they’re capable of, I’m sure Midori can assess from there how truly dangerous this mission is, ‘n’ I consider that as much of a win as livin’ ta see another day ‘cause there’s a high chance of us still livin’ when we send ‘n’ receive the message. That is…” He then directed this to Ileana, the shiny parts of his staff shining briefly to show a portion of his face with his eye to direct his attention to Ileana. “If there’s such a way to do that ‘n’ there’s more yer not tellin’ us. After grillin’ ya, I do still wanna try ‘n’ right somethin’ here, even if it’s just gettin’ rid of this comms restriction ‘n’ leavin’.”

Hopefully, Ileana gave such information in detail for this possible path. Otherwise, he’ll be dead set on leaving.